Light beer is a beer, usually a
pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...
, that is reduced in
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
content or in
calorie
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s compared to regular beers.
The first use of the term in marketing was in the 1940s when the
Coors Brewing Company
The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors.
The first Coors brew ...
sold
Coors Light
Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadia ...
, for a short period before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, relaunching it more successfully in 1978
[ as a 4.2% ]abv
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
pale lager. In 1967, the Rheingold Brewery
Rheingold Brewery was a New York state brewery which sold Rheingold Beer from 1883 to 1976. The brewery held 35% of the state's beer market at its peak. The company was sold by the founding Jewish American Liebmann family in 1963. According t ...
marketed a 4.2% pale lager, Gablinger's Diet Beer, developed by American biochemist Joseph Owades
Joseph Lawrence Owades (July 9, 1919 – December 16, 2005) was an American biochemist and brewer of light and industrially produced beer. He adjusted analytical techniques and quality control, was involved in the development of the first modern l ...
, as a beer for people dieting. It was not successful, and the recipe was given to Peter Hand Brewing Company
The Peter Hand Brewing Company was an American brewery established in 1891 by Prussian immigrant and American Civil War veteran Peter Hand in Chicago, Illinois. The company is notable for popularizing the light beer recipe they would later sell to ...
of Chicago, who sold it as Meister Brau Lite. Peter Hand later rebranded itself as Meister Brau Brewing (to highlight their flagship product in an attempt to go national), but after encountering financial problems in 1972, they sold the Meister Brau line of beers to Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...
. The latter relaunched the beer as Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch's Bu ...
.
Light beers may be chosen by beer drinkers who wish to manage their alcohol consumption or their calorie intake; however, they are sometimes criticised for being less flavourful than full-strength beers, or for tasting or actually being
Reduced alcohol
Light beers with lower alcohol content allow consumers to drink more beers in a shorter period without becoming intoxicated. Low alcohol content can also mean a less expensive beer, especially where excise
file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
is determined by alcohol content.
This is the primary definition of the term in countries such as Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. In Australia, regular beers have approximately 5% alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
; light beers may have alcohol. In Scotland, the term derives from shilling categories, where 'light' customarily means a beer with less than 3.5% alcohol by volume.
Reduced calories
Reducing the caloric content of beer is accomplished primarily by reducing the carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...
content, and secondarily by reducing the alcohol content, since both carbohydrates and alcohol contribute to the caloric content of beer. Unlike reduced-alcohol light beers, the alcohol reduction is not primarily intended to produce a less intoxicating beverage.
This is the primary definition in the United States, where the spelling Lite beer is also encountered, and where popular light beers include Bud Light
Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.
The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...
, Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch's Bu ...
, and Coors Light
Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadia ...
.
See also
*Diet drink
Diet or light beverages (also marketed as sugar-free, zero-calorie, low-calorie, zero-sugar or zero) are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want t ...
*Fat substitute A fat substitute is a food product with the same functions, stability, physical, and chemical characteristics as regular fat, with fewer Calories per gram than fat. They are utilized in the production of low fat and low calorie foods.
Background
Fa ...
References
{{Beer styles
Beer styles